Truck driver sentenced to eight years in prison

The truck driver involved in the Humboldt Broncos tragedy was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday.

Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, who pleaded guilty to 16 charges of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm on Jan. 8, learned his sentence in a makeshift courtroom in Melfort.

Provincial Court Judge Inez Cardinal sentenced the 30-year-old man to eight years concurrent for each of the 16 charges of dangerous driving causing death and five years concurrent for each of the 13 charges of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

The Crown had been seeking a sentence of 10 years in prison, while the defence suggested a term of between 14 months to 4 1/2 years. The maximum sentence for dangerous driving causing death is 14 years in prison.

Cardinal noted that while Sidhu had pleaded guilty and expressed remorse for his actions, she wrote in her decision that she had to hand down a sentence that was “proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender.”

“Somehow we must stop this carnage on our highways,” Cardinal wrote. “It should not take an event such as this to make people realize that operating a motor vehicle requires the full attention of the driver … Seconds matter. Attention to the road matters.”

On April 6, Sidhu was driving a semi-trailer unit west on Highway 335. Court heard previously that he was distracted by a flapping tarpaulin that was covering the load of peat moss he was hauling. As a result, five signs warning of an upcoming intersection didn’t register with him.

Sidhu’s truck missed the stop sign and entered the intersection with Highway 35 at between 86 and 96 kilometres per hour. His truck was struck by the Broncos’ bus, which was travelling northbound on Highway 35 en route to Nipawin.

Sixteen of the 29 passengers on the bus – including 10 Broncos players – were killed as a result of the collision. The other 13 suffered varying injuries, some of them catastrophic.

On Friday, members of the victims’ families were in the courtroom, many of them wearing the jerseys of their sons and brothers.

“We just thought the Broncos were a team and Darcy (Haugan, the team’s head coach who was killed in the crash) always talked about the focus being ‘team’ and ‘proud to be a Bronco,’ ” Mark Dahlgren, whose son Kaleb survived the accident, said after Friday’s hearing. “We’re proud to be a family of Broncos that have come together and we just wanted to show some solidarity for our team.”

In rendering her sentencing decision, Cardinal referred to the 90 victim impact statements that had been presented during the proceedings. She noted that the families and friends of those killed had described their loss as “staggering” and that families have been “torn apart.”

“I want all victims and families to know their voices have been heard in these proceedings,” Cardinal wrote.

The judge considered aggravating factors (such as Sidhu’s inattention concerning the highway signs) and mitigating factors (including his guilty pleas and the fact he faces deportation after his prison term) in settling on a sentence.

However, Cardinal’s major issue was that “the impact of this catastrophe will reverberate across Canada for years to come.” Even so, she realized that “no sentence I impose will make the victims or families whole again or ease the suffering they endure.”

“Nothing can turn back the clock and return the victims, the families or Mr. Sidhu to the place they were before this tragedy unfolded,” Cardinal wrote.

After the decision was read in court, the Broncos issued a statement.

“The Humboldt Broncos organization is thankful that this legal matter has been resolved and that Mr. Sidhu is being held to account for his careless actions on April 6, 2018,” the statement read. “As was stated before, it is appreciated that Mr. Sidhu took responsibility for his actions and that he spared the survivors, families and the community from reliving this tragedy during a trial.”

“This past year has been extremely difficult,” Broncos president Jamie Brockman added in the statement. “Having this legal matter settled and the sentencing complete is a big step in the healing process for the survivors, grieving families, our organization and the community of Humboldt and surrounding area.”

More to come.